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Live blog: UCI to extend use of video replays to 11 more one-day races; Victoria Pendleton supports Auto Trader’s #SwearToChange campaign – Twitter responds; No Rás in 2019? + Satire, inappropriate parking + more
SUMMARY

Indoor training partner
This is, obviously, satire
Today we demonstrated for more and bigger parking spots for the more and bigger SUVs that we need in our cities!
Also against speed limits, against ever having to use the brakes, and against sidewalks, that take up valuable parking space!
'Cause F-you, people aren't me. pic.twitter.com/BGqTizY0IG— Dirk Schneidemesser (@DvSchneid) February 2, 2019
No Ras in 2019?
The Rás Tailteann has taken place every year since 1953, but has been without a title sponsor since An Post in 2017. (The website actually bills it as “Rás Tailteann – formerly the An Post Rás.”)
Independent.ie reports that organisers are set to announce that it won’t take place this year.
“It would be an absolutely massive loss for the whole Irish scene and it might be something that it might not recover from. It just needs one gap in the calendar and it could be gone,” said former national champion Damien Shaw, who was the leading Irish rider in the 2018 edition. “You’d be talking about taking a massive chunk out of the Irish calendar, if the Rás wasn’t there.”
ICYMI - snow day!
We took advantage of the all-too-short-lived snow to have a go on the reTyre zip-on studded tyres. Here are our non-scientific findings…
From the weekend…
Totally rad(iator)
Micks winter steed. Yes thats a radiator. pic.twitter.com/Qi6quIoCnv
— Wrigley Velo CC (@cc_velo) February 2, 2019
This bike is certainly hot to trot…
Lolz
Great, huh? pic.twitter.com/uClTD0zzMg
— 4 Cycling Store (@4cyclingstore) February 3, 2019
Credit unknown!
Well at least it's not parked in the bike lane...
A ‘tank’ parked on a pavement has made this Manchester councillor cantankerous… although as a helpful/pedantic gentleman pointed out in the comments, it’s actually an FV432 armoured personnel carrier thank you very much…
Levenshulme bidding to become Manchester's first 'Mini Holland'
A one-mile area would be redeveloped to encourage cycling and walking..
Victoria Pendleton supports Auto Trader's #SwearToChange campaign (and the comments on Twitter show how far away we are from that happening)
Whether you’re in a car, a pedestrian or a cyclist, instead of swearing at each other, let’s swear to change the way we treat our fellow road users. I’m supporting @AutoTrader_UK and their #SwearToChange campaign: https://t.co/vD1BfXY3VH pic.twitter.com/h7W4yipSgV
— Victoria Pendleton (@v_pendleton) February 4, 2019
The record-breaking Olympic track cyclist-turned jockey has voiced her support for Auto Trader’s road safety campaign calling for respect amongst all vehicle users on the roads… and the comments section proves exactly why that isn’t currently the case, with numerous complaining of poor conduct they encounter from cyclists and likewise, cyclists reminding drivers that they have a heightened responsibility on the roads. Where does it end?
#SwearToChange drew criticism from cyclists as free high visibility clothing was given out to as part of the campaign, which some perceived as a victim-blaming mentality; however Auto Trader responded to road.cc to say they have had a positive response to the campaign, and the aim was to spark debate amongst road users to see what they would like to see change for the better on Britain’s roads. A spokesman said: “The purpose of the #SwearToChange campaign is to spark debate and give a platform to all different types of road users on what they would like to see change on UK roads. The campaign is to encourage a change in attitudes and behaviours with drivers as much as other road users.
“Over the last week we’ve received a great response from the cycling communities on social media, with a huge array of suggestions on what changes and actions could be taken to improve consideration and safety for cyclists. This is exactly the contribution we need to make this debate as open and constructive as possible for all road users and we hope #SwearToChange will continue to enable this.”
Turbo trainers of the pros – What turbos do pro team use for indoor training?
That was one of the big questions of the weekend (well, it was in these parts) and Liam Cahill sought to answer it. The sponsored turbo trainer is a relatively new phenomenon but it looks like it’s here to stay – and it’s not all Elite and Tacx either. Find our more here
Dangerous driver who killed cyclist feigned brain injury in failed bid to avoid jail term
Mohammed Munir was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice.
UCI to extend use of video replays to 11 more one-day races
After Peter Sagan was disqualified from the 2017 Tour de France, the race judge responsible for the decision called for commissaires dedicated to examining video footage of sprint finishes.
The UCI management committee duly approved the use of video at the three Grand Tours as well as the five Monuments and road world championships for last season.
This will now be extended to 11 more one-day races:
- Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite
- Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne
- Strade Bianche
- Driedaagse Brugge de Panne
- E3 BinckBank Classic
- Gent-Wevelgem
- Dwars door Vlaanderen
- Scheldeprijs
- De Brabantse Pijl
- Amstel Gold Race
- La Flèche Wallonne
Near Miss of the Day 248: Cement truck driver sees no reason not to pass
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Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn’t especially like cake.
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Latest Comments
"All that's required is an to roads policing" - that's a big all... Although no doubt the "idiots just keep coming" aspect does apply: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9lel2wz93o "Man charged after car crashes through bowling alley" - luckily they only skittled over skittles.
Almost any change to roads and streets is accompanied by a period of heightened danger, and in the UK "look out for cyclists" will need to be learned... practically. And over the time it takes for cyclists to become a regular feature. OTOH once (if...) good designs are in and frequent enough such that drivers encounter them AND the cyclists on them regularly (another big if) I don't think they should be much more difficult than a footway to deal with. These things are all over NL - don't have the collision stats but they should. (NL isn't perfect but collecting info on the safety of designs to feed back into better designs as required is part of the "sustainable safety" philosophy - if they're really a killer I think they'd be altering these.)
I'm in the happy position of agreeing with everybody here! I've never considered a bike with a stand, yet I'm impressed by the ingenuity and adaptability of this axle. I tow a Yak Bob with a Robert Axle, employing my El Cheapo Vitus gravel bike and I just have to be very careful where I stop. Hedges are generally a dead loss, and I seek walls, telegraph poles and signposts and generally lean the widest part of the Bob against it. One very awkward task is removing the two steel pins which lock the trailer arms onto the special mounting slots on the Robert axle, and when you have one out, the sodding weight in the trailer can twist the whole caboodle and bend the Bob fitting before you can get the other out and unhitch. I doubt if a stand would help with that. You can imagine that this combo is a real pain when you have to get it over the bridge at railway stations, and it nearly resulted in Merseyrail nearly parting me and the trailer on the platform from the bike on the train. It's a long story for another time. Another axle example recently featured on here, with a 12mm front axle bearing the Herculean weight limit of a monster American front rack.
This has nothing to do with the type of bike - it's the type of behaviour that's the problem. Banning the sale of such bikes will not curtail the behaviour. They'll just find another type of vehicle and continue to drive dangerously as there's such a lack of enforcement. I'd sooner see them ban the bally. But really, all that's required is an improvement to roads policing.
The EAPC Bill is welcome, but full of holes. What's to stop an overpowered but temporarily limited e-bike being sold and subsequently delimited? This is often a trivial process.
@KiwiMike Yeah, in my over four decades of riding all over Europe I've never 'been for a ride in the countryside'. That must be it. Or, and I know this is a wild concept, you just accept that I just voiced my personal experiences and never missed a kickstand, like I wrote. Anyway, what's the big horror of laying your bike on its side for the very few occasions where there is nothing to lean your bike against?
They may have looked, but did they see?
Ds2025: where they are going wrong is that they are crushing the motorbike rather than the person sat on top of it. If they did the latter this issue would be solved in less than 24 hours.
I came this way today with the car boot sale in operation. There was a marshal at the entrance, who stopped a car turning right across the cycleway as I was approaching. So that certainly works. I think it necessary for the marshal to be there, I couldn't say if the driver would have turned if he hadn't been there but you always have to suspect the worst. Unfortunately there is no marshal at the exit, and there was certainly a car stopped across the cycleway as I was approaching it. But he pulled onto the road before I reached it, and the following car stayed off the cycleway as I went through. Ideally there should have been a marshal there too. On the whole, though, it's a really high standard piece of infrastructure. Just a pity it doesn't extend a bit further.
“absolute carnage” So right! Just look at the bodies piled up, blood running in the gutters and injured people limping away. It's a bit of a problem with a road, delaying some people for minutes at a time: it isn't carnage, let alone 'absolute carnage'. Anyone who exaggerates so ridiculously really shouldn't be allowed to comment in public, unless they want to demonstrate their idiocy to all and sundry.
7 thoughts on “Live blog: UCI to extend use of video replays to 11 more one-day races; Victoria Pendleton supports Auto Trader’s #SwearToChange campaign – Twitter responds; No Rás in 2019? + Satire, inappropriate parking + more”
Gutted that the Ras is not
Gutted that the Ras is not happening. It’s a great race over some challenging roads. Hopefully a sponsor can be found so it can resume in the near future.
Victoria Pendleton paid some
Victoria Pendleton paid some money after the sales of bikes at Halfords didn’t quite pay for the new extension….
The issue with acting like a
The issue with acting like a div in a car is that you’re in your box, and you can drive off and not face the consequences of your actions.
That’s the reason why people are ever so polite in the supermarket, but not on the road. As Henning Wehn puts it, the British say ‘sorry’ all the time not because they are polite, but because they don’t want to get beaten up.
I don’t think SweartoChange
I don’t think SweartoChange will work. I find myself swearing quite a lot on the road (usually under-my-breath) and nothing seems to change as a result. The soundtracks on those close pass videos seem to suggest I’m not the only one. Lots of swearing going on, and yet nothing changes.
…Maybe swearing more loudly
…Maybe swearing more loudly would help? In the spirit of the campaign I’m willing to give it a try.
The first comment I found on
The first comment I found on Victoria’s twitter feed demonstrates the problem perfectly:
“It’s simple everyone look out for everyone else! Cyclists and pedestrians are more vulnerable than car drivers so must protect themselves be visible! Car drivers give cyclists lots and pedestrians lots of room you don’t have a right to the roads” From a driving instructor!
My response:
“Please tell me that your profile is a hoax and you aren’t really a driving instructor. If you really are, then stop doing it until you’ve learned to share the road without blaming your victims.”
I’m too depressed to read the rest.
EDIT: actually, having read that, he could have meant that drivers don’t have a right to the road. I wonder.
At least on Instagram,
At least on Instagram, Victoria’s newly shared support for the Auto Trader campaign has to be highlighted as a paid partnership